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Papers of Edwin M. Watson and of Frances Nash Watson, Accession #9786, Special Collections, University of Virginia Library, Charlottesville, Va.
Many of the papers in this archive came from General Watson's office in the White House, and were turned over to Mrs. Watson after her husband's death. Added to these were his personal papers; the archive was moved to "Kenwood," the Watson's home near Charlottesville, Virginia, where it remained until Mrs. Watson's death in December 1971. In her will, Mrs. Watson bequested the entire contents of the files to the University of Virginia, and the files were delivered to the Library in the spring of 1972.
Edwin Martin Watson was born in Eufala, Alabama, 10 December 1883, but moved while very young to Martinsville, Virginia where he grew up and received his early education. He received an appointment to the United States Military Academy and graduated in the Class of 1908. Commissioned a second lieutenant in the infantry he saw service in various posts in the United States and in the Phillipine Islands. After a tour as military aide to President Woodrow Wilson, Captain Watson transferred to the artillery. He served with distinction in the A.E.F. in France, winning a number of combat decorations. During the Versailles negotiations he served as junior aide to President Wilson, and returned to Washington in that capacity. He married Frances Nash, a promising concert pianist, in 1920. Two years in France at various French field artillery schools followed, and then various tours in U.S. artillery posts. In June, 1927, Major Watson graduated from the Command and General Staff School at Fort Leavenworth, and was ordered to the American Embassy in Brussels as Military Attache, serving there for four years. Returning to the United States in 1931, Watson served with an artillery unit in New York, was promoted to lieutenant colonel, and in January, 1933, reported to the General Staff in Washington. On June 1, 1933, he was ordered as Military Aide to President Roosevelt. By 1939, Watson was a brigadier general, and secretary tot eh President; he was promoted to Major General on October 1, 1940. He died suddenly during the return trip from the Yalta Conference on 20 February 1945.
This collection, which fills fifty-one Hollinger storage boxes occupying about twenty-one linear feet of shelving, consists of the papers of Major General Edwin M. Watson, and of his wife, Frances Nash Watson. The material covers the period 1900 (1933)-(1945) 1967. Included is a good deal of material from General Watson's army career and personal life, but the largest portion of the material was produced by his service as military aide to President Franklin D. Roosevelt from 1933-1939, and subsequently, as secretary to Roosevelt until Watson's death in February 1945. Official files of various sorts kept by General Watson during this service are included. However, as he was a personal friend of President Roosevelt, there is much material of an unofficial nature such as humorous memoranda, photographs taken on vacation and official trips, mementoes, etc. Mrs. Watson's papers fall into two groups. The first consists of papers re General Watson's death and funeral, letters of condolence, etc., while the second is largely made up of an extensive correspondence with Supreme Court Justice Felix Frankfurter.
After General Watson's death, Mrs. Watson, and his secretary, Mrs. Lillian Dennison, worked with General Watson's papers for many months. It is impossible now to determine the integrity of the files, or the original organization. But the series found when the papers reached the Library were retained for two reasons: they are logical, and a card index to the files had been prepared which was keyed to this organization. Considerable material was received, particularly many of General Watson's personal papers and all of Mrs. Watson's, which had not been organized at all. In many cases, however, some indications of the intent of the original organizers were apparent, and these indications have been followed wherever possible.
Mrs. Watson prepared an "Explanation of File" which was dated 21 April 1947. Each series is described, and these descriptions have been incorporated in the Series-Container listing which follows. Through Box 39 the comments on each series are those of Mrs. Watson except for material in brackets which has been supplied by the compiler of this Guide. The description and organization of the material in Boxes 40-51, and of the oversize and other material was prepared by the compiler.
Mrs. Watson wrote the following introduction to the papers
in her "Explanation of File":
April 21, 1947
This is a file of Major General Edwin Martin Watson.
Some of these documents concern his early life, others
relate to West Point days and his military career, but most of
them pertain to his part in President Roosevelt's
administration-first, as his Military Aide, and later as
Secretary to the President, while continuing his duties as
Military Aide.
These written records indicate the nature and scope of
General Watson's duties, and are evidence of his influence in
the President's Life - officially and personally. Much, of
course, was never put on paper, but something of this can be
read between the lines of many of the General's remarkable
memos and letters.
The arrangement of the papers tell the story of General
Watson's daily activities - somewhat in the order of events as
they occurred, as follows.
The card index file, which is available upon request, consists of about 4,000 cards. There is a card, or a series of cards, for every person with whom General Watson corresponded and there are many subject cards. There is an entry on each correspondent's card for each piece of correspondence with its date and a description of the content of each letter in a short phrase. The index, as far as can be determined, covers the material in Boxes 1 through 39. It is presumed that this card index was begun during General Watson's White House Service to enable him to locate any items in his files, but there is no definite evidence to support this presumption. The personal papers, which were received unorganized, were not included in the index, nor were Mrs. Watson's papers.
The card index file, which is available upon request, consists of about 4,000 cards. There is a card, or a series of cards, for every person with whom General Watson corresponded and there are many subject cards. There is an entry on each correspondent's card for each piece of correspondence with its date and a description of the content of each letter in a short phrase. The index, as far as can be determined, covers the material in Boxes 1 through 39. It is presumed that this card index was begun during General Watson's White House Service to enable him to locate any items in his files, but there is no definite evidence to support this presumption. The personal papers, which were received unorganized, were not included in the index, nor were Mrs. Watson's papers.
Beginning in 1933 and continuing to 1945, these memos
record General Watson's personal appointment; requests
from the President's other Secretaries; from Mrs.
Roosevelt or her secretary (Malvina Thompson, formerly
Mrs. Scheider); from the General's own secretaries, his
liaison officers with the War Department; and lesser
members of the White House personnel. These memos and
their attached papers cover practically every phase of
his daily activities.
Correspondence and Memos not entered in Gen.
Watson's files.
The General had an ingenious trick of writing memos to himself, starting out "Memo to General Watson" and signed "EMW," which served to remind him of any matter he wanted brought to his attention. He seldom needed the reminder but it was always there in the background, just as a check-up.
These memos, mainly from General Watson, were in
answer to questions of the President, or brought up
subjects General Watson thought he might wish or should
consider. They dealt with matters both high and low -
from important secret papers to jokes on General Watson;
included questions asked the President by Senators and
Congressmen, letters brought to the President's
attention by Mrs. Roosevelt, etc.
Many of these memos are very revealing,
characteristic of General Watson - and give a good
indication of his personal and official relationship
with the President.
Memos to the President Apparently Never Filed.
These deal with correspondence; requests from the
President; various jobs he wanted done; politics;
directives, and so on. Some are formal memos, others
just a note jotted on top of a letter by the President's
secretary, at his direction, "Pa, to answer," "Pa, tell
them I cannot do this."
Memos from the President Apparently never
filed.
These papers all carry the President's handwriting, usually are from the President to General Watson; some are corrections or notations in the President's hand. Most of these memos are in a serious or official vein - as distinguished from the next section of the file, President's Witticisms (Original).
These are not all witticisms, as some of the papers strike rather a grim note - but they include quips, puns, jokes on General Watson, as well as some originated by the General on others. Each has a note or memo in the President's handwriting.
These are memos from General Watson usually to members of his staff, directing that one person or another be placed on the appointment list of the President. They formed the background information for the Daily Schedule.
These are the "draft" copies of the President's daily
appointment list, prepared by General Watson the Day
before and submitted to the President each morning at
the bedside Conference.
The President's handwriting is on most [some] of
these lists - adding, changing, deleting, sometimes
writing an entire new schedule, but more often just
shuffling the hours 5 minutes one way or another. The
President did this to tease the General - and it became
quite a game with him.
[1941 Daily schedules of the President apparently never filed]
This section includes letters to and from people in
all walks of life about President Roosevelt's four
elections and inaugurations. The bulk of the
correspondence, of course, concerns the third term.
[folders for 1933, 1936, 1940(3), 1944, and a
folder headed "Inaugural Gala, 1941"]
This is a rather scanty section of the file and contains letters to and from several of the Supreme Court Justices; namely, [Douglas, Frankfurter, Jackson, and Reed - personal correspondence].
This section contains correspondence with practically
all of the President's Cabinet members.
Of course, many letters from these officials are
attached to MEMO and will be found in that group - (for
individual names or subjects, see the card index file).
[Includes folders for Harry H. Woodring, Henry A.
Wallace Frank C. Walker, Henry L. Stimson, Edward R.
Stettinius, Daniel C. Roper, Frances Perkins, Frank
Murphy, Henry Morganthau, Jesse Jones, Robert Jackson,
Harold Ickes, Cordell Hull, Francis Biddle, and James A.
Farley. Chiefly personal correspondence with a few
photographs and "official" papers.]
Letters to and from "below Cabinet status" members of President Roosevelt's administration; this section also includes his Secretaries, his Naval Aides, the Governors, and such officials; also Honorable Bernard M. Baruch in his status as Adviser to the President; the White House office force, etc. The Secret Service comes in here. [Alphabetical arrangement of folders for such persons as Bernard Baruch, Jonathan Daniels, Josephus Daniels, Stephen T. Early, J. Edgar Hoover, Louis Johnson, Fiorello LaGuardia, Nelson Rockefeller, etc. Chiefly personal with some "official" papers.]
Correspondence with Senators and Congressmen. However, a great many of the letters from these gentlemen are filed under REQUESTS, are attached to various MEMOS, or with the ELECTION AND INAUGURUATIONS section. (The card index will locate these under the names of the individual officials.). [Alphabetical arrangement of folders for individual senators followed by folders for Congressmen.]
Everybody asked for something - for commissions in the Army or Navy; retired officers desired active duty; requests for jobs, deferment, autographs, photographs, information; classmates wanted promotion, or appointment as Inspector General, Surgeon General, Quartermaster General; requests for appointments to West Point and to the Naval Academy; for the pens used by the President in signing bills; requests made through Mrs. Roosevelt and her secretary Miss Malvina Thompson (the former Mrs. Scheider). This gives but a scant idea of the volume of requests which went through General Watson's hands. In the card index there is also a REQUESTS card which shows various requests attached to MEMOS, etc.
[Alphabetical arrangement of correspondence with military officers, chiefly West Point classmates and friends. Includes Jonathan Wainwright and George S. Patton, Jr.]
This section includes crank letters, as well as constructive criticism and suggestions.
9 folders of correspondence with reporters, or re articles on Watson.
Chronological arrangement.
Chronological arrangement of folders containing, notes, memos, photographs, etc., 1933-1945, including copies of Gen. Watson's authorizations for expenses on these trips.
Photographs of Quebec and Pacific Trips, 1944
Includes folders re autograph requests, cigars and liquors, household furnishings, etc.
These files have been arranged alphabetically by the subject headings found on the folders.
F.N.W. with Bernard M. Baruch, 1945-1964; F.N.W. with Robert Jackson, 1941, 1946 and Truman, TLS, includes 2 H.S.
Cards from funeral flowers
Funeral arrangements, obituaries, bills, etc.
for General Watson.
Obituaries and copies of letters of sympathy, 1945 West Point Assembly.
(including: 2 TLS, Harry Truman to F.F.; 2 LS, Robert E. Sherwood to F.F.; 2 LS, Hans Kindler to F.F.; TLS, Henry Morganthau, Jr., to F.W.; 2 TLS, Gilbert H. Montague to F.F.)
Including 2 photographs and ALS, Bernard Baruch to F.F.
Including TLS, Martin Agronsky to F.F.; and telegram, Olga Koussevitzky to F.F.
Inscribed on cover, "Dear Frances Xmas 1959-Affectionately Felix")